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< Esato Forum Index > General discussions > Non mobile discussion > Why do people think that South Africa is a jungle? Bookmark topic

This is one of the things that makes me so mad

On just about any TV show or movie or talk show, when there is talked about South Africa they go on like we all live in the jungle and that there is lions walking around our houses and in our gardens. Just because we get the latest Sony Ericsson a week later or that out internet is slower that your doesn't mean that we are all tarzans living on animals we hunt ourselves!!!

I just want to make this clear to all the people that think South Africa is one big jungle: South Africa is a normal country with just about as advanced tech as most other country's. The most of us live in normal houses in city's with skyscrapers and HUGE shopping centers just like the rest of the world. In all the time I have been living I have not once seen a wild animal walking around in the streets, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T HAPPEN!

Come on people stop stereotyping, stop believing stupid wild life programs that only show the wild side of South Africa and go on like there is nothing else!


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Posted: 2009-10-17 21:41:46
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I've travelled alot of the world in the last 2 1/2 decades, to many many countries and met many many travellers and cannot remember ever hearing anyone describe SA as a Jungle, so I am puzzled where this comes from?

mind you, in contrast to that I have met a few people who really thought that (or at least wondered if) we get kangaroos bounding down our city streets, so I can imagine that these misconceptions do happen
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Posted: 2009-10-17 21:47:34
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Yeah... Exactly what mass said. Most people know SA is a country made up of proper cities, as well as areas of deserts, forests and wildlife. If anything, South Africa is far more well known for violence in big cities, and nowadays, District 9, as opposed to it just being one massive empty area with lions.
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Posted: 2009-10-17 21:56:30
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I dont think that either its not one big jungle. Of course we know there are proper cities there and whats happening there next year? THE WORLD CUP I think some people are just narrow minded or just plain ignorant. I know someone from work who has been there he loved it and loved the city. He also did a bungie jump from table mountain
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Posted: 2009-10-17 22:08:00
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I have also never heard anyone refer to SA as a jungle. I always imagine SA as towns and cities like most other developed countries.
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Posted: 2009-10-17 22:47:29
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Concrete Jungle maybe?
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Posted: 2009-10-18 13:32:59
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Pretty much this. I'm confused at why the original poster felt he had to have a rant about this. Would like to know the cause.
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Posted: 2009-10-18 13:42:12
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I have dual nationality, both Saffer and Brit.
I guess sitnet's rant revolves around some ignorant views that stem from people who only imagine wildlife/jungle/bush when the word 'Africa' follows the word 'South'.
@ sitnet:
I'd agree with the other posters in here; there's hardly any Brits here who I've met who actually think that; many have got a pretty fair idea of SA's uniqueness with its very diverse cultures and contrasting 1st world and 3rd world elements.
I remember as a young kid watching the A-Team in the 80's and in the one episode they apparently go on a mission in 'South Africa'. What did they feature? Bush, jungle and some very primitive-looking convenience store. (and thinking to myself, what the...LOL). So far off the mark.
However sitnet, although I can understand what you're saying to an extent, it's certainly not a universal opinion of SA. And let's face it, like it or not, the whole jungle/bush/safari connotation has been pretty well-exploited in a positive way by the SA tourist industry, wooing those from abroad who wish to check out (or hunt..) the wildlife, dive in a cage with Great White Sharks off Gansbaai, False Bay etc etc. Who can blame them if it's bringing in big, big bucks (pun?)?

Yes, they would need to go to places like the Kruger National Park etc to look at, say, the 'Big 5' et al.
Yes, there's state-of-the-art tech in the big cities, as you were referring to, but there's also that unique opportunity to visit remote traditional villages, where it's almost as third world as it gets.
Animals around the place? In my many travels around SA, I'd agree that there's not much chance of seeing wildlife while driving between cities. For example, perhaps the odd troop of baboons along the N2 between Port Elizabeth and Plettenberg Bay, the odd snake or some poor roadkill and on the very odd occasion, a small antelope like the duiker while driving through The Karoo etc.

Out of curiousity though, like others in this thread, I'd like to also know what triggered such a rant...

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Posted: 2009-10-19 23:09:50
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...infact, if memory serves me well, I once only saw a Cheetah. It had strolled on campus to dine on tender coeds. No seriously, some Zoo had brought it to be admired, 'cos most of us, believe it or not, have ever been that close to some of our wild life or even seen it.
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Posted: 2009-10-20 00:42:50
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